Toilet seat



Oct. 8, 1957 R. LIEBLING TOILET SEAT Filed Nov. 15, 1953 INVENTOR. I ROSE 'LI EBLI NG BY A TTO RNEY 2,808,104 TOILET SEAT Rose Liebling, Atlanta, Ga. Application November 13, 1953, serial No. 391,959

4 claims. (c. lss- 131) This invention relates Vto'5toilet seats and more particularly to toilet seats of the class having a regular seat and a supplemental seat.

In my United States Patent Nos. 2,584,141 and 2,545,- 436, I have disclosed a toilet seat having a cover provided with a recess portion which receives a supplemental or smaller seat. This supplemental seat, together with the cover and regular seat, is hinged on an axle fixed to the commode so that either the regular seat may be used or the supplemental seat may be rotated from the cover to a position resting upon the regular seat Whereby a child may use this smaller or supplemental seat. In Patent No. 2,584,141, I have disclosed, in addition to the supplemental seat, a U-shaped member which is supported above the supplemental seat by an extension link and a leg, so that the U-shaped member is spaced from the seat and in a plane parallel therewith. In utilizing toilet seats constructed in accordance with either of my prior patents, it is necessary for a grown person to remain with the child and support the child on the supplemental seat since there is no apparatus which Will definitely retain the child in the proper position. I have also found that in constructing a toilet seat according to my Patent No. 2,584,141, the extension link is diflicult to operate and presents a danger to the child occupant in that the U-shaped member may slide down within the slots and thus allow the extension link to remain upright in a position to be engaged by the childas arms or body in such manner that injury may result.

Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide a toilet seat having a toilet seat cover which is adapted to nest a supplemental seat and wherein the supplemental seat is provided with extendable means for definitely retaining a child in the proper position on the seat.

Another object of my invention is to provide a toilet seat having a supplemental' seat provided with means for definitely. retaining the'child in a position on the seat, Which means may be easily operated by a person using only one hand to aifect utilization of the same.

Another object of my invention is to provide a toilet seat having a supplemental seat provided with retaining means Which, when not in use, will lie-flat and conform to the contour of the supplemental seat whereby both said supplemental seat and said retaining means is capable of being nested in a recessed portion of the toilet seat cover.

Another object of my invention is to provide retaining means for a supplemental toilet seat which means has few moving parts to get out of order, is ecouomical to manufacture and is easily replaceable.

* Another object of my invention is to provide 'a toilet seat having a cover, a supplemental seat which may be nested within the cover and a regular seat, said toilet seat being economical to manufacture, durable in structure, efficient and easy to operate and provided with few moving parts to get out of order.

Other and further objects and advantages of my in- States Patent vention will become apparent from the following description of a single embodiment of my invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view in perspective of a toilet seat constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-Sectional View taken along line 2-2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the supplemental seat of the toilet seat disclosed in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-Sectional view taken along line 4-4 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a bottom plane view of a detail showing the yoke brace and strap of the toilet illustrated in Fig. 1, said strap being passed around said yoke.

Referring now in detail to the embodiment chosen for purpose of illustration, numeral 10 denotes a conventional annular toilet seat hinged by arms 11 to axle 12. A toilet seat cover 13 is also hinged to axle 12 by arms 14, the axle 12 being adapted to be bolted to the bowl of a commode (not shown) by brackets 15. Resilient stops 16 are fixed to the bottom portion of cover 13 to buffer the impact of cover 13 being closed on seat 10, and resilient stops 17 on the bottom of seat 10 are adapted to buffer the impact of seat 10 engaging the commode. All of the foregoing elements are arranged in conventional manner and hence a further description of the details of construction is not deemed necessary.

According to my U. S. Patents Nos. 2,594,141 and 2,545,436, the' bottom of cover 13 is provided with an annular recessed portion 19 adapted to house supplemental seat 20 Which in turn is hinged to axle 12 by arms 21. in the housed position, the bottom of supplemental seat 20 is fiush with the bottom of cover 13; and, in the operable position, seat 20 rests on seat 10 with the aperture formed by the annulus of seat 20 in registry with the aperture formed by the annulus of seat 10, resilient stops 17' being provided on the bottom of seat 20 to buffer the impact of seat 20 coming into registry with seat 10. Seat 10 is of such size that it may be utilized by an adult, the supplemental seat 20 being smaller and adapted for use by a child or infant.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention, a spring loaded ball 22, which projects from the front edge of supplemental seat 20, is adapted to engage a metal flange 23 provided on the surface of the outer peripheral Wall 24 of recessed portion 19, and thus when supplemental seat 20 is in the housed position it will remain so until force is applied to remove it.

As seen most clearly in. Fig. 3, supplemental seat 20 is generally elliptical, having smooth curved frontand rear'peripheral edges 25 and 26, respectively. Rear edge 26 is of smaller mean radius than front edge 25; and, hence indented edge portions 27 form a junction of the two, substantially centrally of seat 20.

A yoke or U-shaped member 28 formed of rigid material circumscribes or straddles rear edge 26 and is fixedly pivoted at its end by pivot pins 29, 29' which project into supplemental seat 20 as shown by broken lines in Fig. 3. The protruding ends of pins 29, 29' form snap seats Which are adapted to receive respectively snap fasteners 30 and 31, 31' and 31" on flexible strap 32.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it will be seen that U-shaped member 28 is free to pivot` about pivot pins 29, 29,' through approximately' a arc from a horizontal to Va vertical position, and is provided with a curved brace 33 pivoted by one end to pivot pin 34 on the rear central portion of U-shaped member.28 so that it may lie flat against the outer curved portion of U-shaped member 28, as shown in Fig. 5, or project downwardly therefrom as shown in Figs. l, 2 and 4. As seen most clearly in Fig. 5, a flange 35 is provided along the upper edge of U-shaped member 28; whereby, when strap 32 is not in use, it may be retained beneath flange 35 and against U-shaped member 23, thus holding brace 33 in a retracted posi- Lion as illustrated in Fig. 3. In this lowered position, fiange 35 overhangs strap 32 Vto protect it from damage. The thickness of yoke 28 together with strap 32 is substantially the same as the thickness of indented portions 27, and hence the mean radius thereof is substantially the same as the mean radius of front edge 25. It will thus be seen that the supplemental seat assembly is generally elliptical to conform to recessed portion 19.

Projecting rearwardly from beneath supplemental seat 20 is a protuberant member 36 which is formed integrally with cross-bar 37 which joins the ends of arms 21; The upper surface of protuberant member 36 is concaved to receive the free end of brace 33, thereby supporting U- shaped member 23 in a position to act as a back rest for the infant or child.

When supplemental seat 20 is not in use, brace 33 is folded against U-shaped member 28 and U-shaped member 28, in turn, is rotated until it rests in a lowered position against arms 21; strap 32 is passed around U- shaped member 28, and is snapped by snap fasteners 30 and 31 to pivot pins 29, 29'; then, the supplemental seat 20 is rotated into recessed portion 19, being held in place by ball 22 which engages flange 23. Cover 13 then may be used as a conventional cover and folded down against seat if desired, the supplemental seat being retained in recessed portion 19, with brace 33, U-shaped member 28 and strap 32 being retained between recess 19 and arms 21.

When supplemental seat 20 is to be placed in operative condition, it is removed from recess 19 and pivoted down against seat 10, snap 31 is unsnapped from pivot pin 29', U-shaped member 28 rotated to a position where brace 33 may be rotated to a substantially verticallposition and U-shaped member 28 is rotated until the free end of brace 33 rests on protuberant member 36. Next, the child or infant is placed in supplemental seat 20 and strap 32 passed over its lap and snapped to pivot pin 297 by one of snaps 31, 31' or 31", depending on the size of the child orinfant. With the yoke in operative position, it will be seen to make an angle of approximately 45 with the plane of seat 20, thereby effectively serving not only as a back rest but also providing comfortably sloping arm rests.

It Will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations may be madein the single embodiment chosen for purpose of illustration without departingifrom the scope of my invention as defined by 'the1 appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a childis supplemental toilet seat adapted-to be pivotally mounted on the conventional axle of a regular toilet seat, the combination with a generally elliptical small seat body the rear peripheral portion of which is'of smaller mean radius than the forward peripheral portion to provide an indented rear edge substantially one halfofv the total periphery of the seat, of a generally U-shaped yoke conforming in configuration with the indentation of said rear portion, means pivotally mounting the forward ends of.said yoke within said indentation adjacent the forward ends thereof for pivotal movement from an angular body supporting position with respect to the plane of the seat to a position in the plane of the seat and within said indentation.

2. In a child's supplemental toilet seat adapted to be pivotally mounted on the conventional axle of a regular toilet seat, the combination with a generally ellip'tical small seat body the rear peripheral portion of which is of smaller mean'radius than the forward peripheral portion to provide an indented rear edge substantially one half of the total periphery of the seat, of a generally U-shaped yoke conforming in configuration with the indentation of said rear portion, means pivotally mounting the forward ends of said yoke within said indentation adjacent the forward ends thereof for'pivotal movement from an angular body supporting position with respect to the plane of the seat to a positiony in the plane of the seat and within said indentation,together with a flexible strap the ends of which. are pivotally connected with the pivotal connection 'of 'said`member within said indentation.

3. In a child's' supplemental toilet seat adapted to be pivotally mounted on the conventional axle of a regular toilet seat, the combination with a generally elliptical small seat body the rear peripheral portion of which is of smaller mean radius than the forward peripheral portion to provide an indented rear edge substantially one half of the total periphery of'the seat, of a generally U- shaped yoke conforming in a configuration with the indentation of said rear portion, means pivotally mounting the forward ends of said yoke within said indentation adjacent the forward ends thereof for pivotal movement from an angular body supporting position with respect to the planet of the seat to a position in the plane of the seat and within said indentation' together with a flexible strap' the ends of which are pivotally connected with the pivotal connection of'said member Within said indentation, said 'U-"shapedyoke including a flange adapted to receive'said flexible strap thereunder when the yoke is pivoted into position within said indentation.

4. In a childs supplemental toilet adapted to be pivotally mounted on the conventional axle of a regular toilet seat, the'c'ombinationwith a generally eliiptical small seat body the rear peripheral portion of which is of smaller mean radius than the forward peripheral portion to provide an'indented rear edge substantially one half of the total periphery of the seat, of a generally U-shaped yoke conforming in configuration with the indentation of said rear portion, means pivotally mounting the forward ends of said yoke within said'indentation adjacent the forward ends thereof for pivotal movement from an angular body supporting position with 'respect to the plane of the seat to aiposition in the plane of the se'at and within said ndentation, togetheriwith a flexible strap the ends of which are pivotally connected with the pivotal connection of said member within said indentation, said U-shaped yoke including a flange adapted to receive said fiexible strap thereunder when the yoke is pivoted into position within said indentation, said yoke and strap and fianges providing when in the plane of the seat a circumferential elliptical contour of a mean radius Vconforming to that of the forward peripheral portion of the seat.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 857,914 Weber June 25, 1907 997,284 Fuller July 11, 1911 1,267,590 Ream May 28, 1918 2,292,386 Manson Aug. 11, 1942 2,449,498 Mellichampe Sept. 14, 1948 2,545,598 Barnes Mar. 20, 1951 2,584,141 Liebling Feb. 5, 1952 2,612,936 Lansaw Oct. 7, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 333,967 France Oct. 7, 1903, 750,974 France June 12,` 1933 

